Friday, December 26, 2008

This is my friend Robin with me at my baby shower. We met when she came to my school during my last year teaching there. We became friends and spent a lot of time together during that year. I have had the best time at her house with her and her precious baby boys. She is one of the most hilarious people I know. She is a wonderful friend and is one of the many of you who has kept up with Blair's recovery and prayed for us.

Robin is in the hospital this week after a car accident on Monday night. She has quite a few broken bones in her lower body and is having various surgeries to repair them. She is just at the beginning of a long road of recovery, so please pray for her and her family.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

I have enjoyed getting ready for Blair's first Christmas! I haven't put up near the decorations I had last year, but we have a tree! I love a big fat frasier fur, but this year I put up an artificial tree that I found in the attic. It's what they call a slim. It's slim alright. It's about 8' tall and 2' wide! It looks like it came straight from Whoville. I wasn't too excited at first, since it looked lost in our den, but it turned out pretty cute.

Blair has enjoyed her precious pink, green, and blue tree in her room that her aunt Melissa made for her. It goes perfectly with her bedding. She loves the lights. I do too, since it's the perfect amount of light to change a diaper in the middle of the night!

Blair looks so cute in her Christmas outfits and pjs.

We are so thankful this year to have Blair and to have her home. God had been so good to us and has answered so many of our prayers. Most of all, we thank God for Christmas and the birth of His Son.

Friday, December 19, 2008

In the past two weeks we have been in the road. I wish I could post about fun adventures we go on. Unfortunately, we don't get to go see anyone but the doctor! Wednesday it was a weight check (7 lb 9 oz), Thursday it was to have her ears rechecked, and today we went to the eye doctor. Dr. Logan wanted to get Blair's eyes checked to make sure that her having been on oxygen hasn't caused abnormal vessels to grow in her retina. Everything looked great, so we are thankful. The small amount of oxygen that she's on now should have no effect on her eyes, so we don't have plans to go back to the eye doctor any time soon. Now lets hope she doesn't get her mommy's vision!

While I was getting all of our equipment ready to go this morning, Blair occupied herself in the cradle staring at the mobile. She likes the mobile above the swing, but this was the first time this one grabbed and kept her attention.Since she was in the car a lot today and thankfully sleeps like a champ while we ride, tonight she was ready to play. She was smiling away.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Today was the big day that our favorite brown child came back from vacation. Since right after Blair was born, Gus has been staying with my parents and playing with their furchild Lola. My dad has become quite attached to Gus, so I think he was sad to see Gus go -- even if he did break into the dog food container and eat 10 pounds! I don't know what about Gus made my dad fall in love with him so. Could it have been his expert counter surfing moves? his I-knew-that-was-wrong-but-I-did-it-anyway head duck? his practice-made-perfect poor, pitiful me look? the way he follows his person from room to room? or the paw on your knee to tell you he loves you? They all got me from the beginning, and I'm so glad he's home!

Pretty pitiful

He promptly went as close to Blair as he could get and "talked" to her with his little grunts like he does to our cat. Is that good?

It will take some time for him to get adjusted, but he's doing well. He took a few strolls around the house to scope out all the new scents, nosed his way through the cradle bars to check out the foreign grunt noises, and moved his head to the beat of the swing to see what was in there that was smelling so different! He perks his ears and stares at the baby monitor when it makes noise. He'll be a great big brother!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Blair is two months old! I can't believe it. We went to the doctor today for her two month checkup and shots :(. Thank goodness the nurse was a speedy one. I had a bottle ready, so she didn't cry long. She doesn't let much get in the way of food! It's a good thing. Dr. Logan said that babies trying to overcome lung disease have a hard time gaining weight, but she's doing ok so far. She weighed 6 lbs 14 oz when we went for our first appointment last week and weighed 7 lbs 4 oz today!

Blair is really loving being talked to and held. I'll rephrase that and say that she is officially spoiled. She even coughs a little to get attention. The pacifier is really cute too, until she cries every time she spits it out! Since we've been home she has really started smiling a lot. She does a lot of mouth moving and has managed to make a few sounds other than cries too.

Brad has a knack for making her smile.

She cried the first time I gave her a bath, but she seems to like it now.

After being at home for a week, we are settling in and working on getting into somewhat of a routine. Blair has tried out just about all of her toys. She learned to self sooth early, so she is content where ever we put her -- for the most part!

her aquarium bouncer

her swing

the baby lounger

She LOVES this red bird that came with the activity gym. She will stare at it forever and follow it from side to side.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

We had a nice stay at the Coliseum with Blair on Monday and Tuesday nights-- if you can actually say that about spending the night in the hospital! I brought a bouncy seat for her, because at almost two months, Blair is spending more time awake and found that crib to be quite boring. Thank goodness they had a swing for her with a lovely construction paper mobile that Stacy made!

We packed up and headed home Wednesday afternoon. Blair had plenty of stuff to bring home. The nurses spoiled her. Daphne had made her a pumpkin name tag for her crib and another pumpkin telling everyone that Blair is sensitive to tape! She had a "My first Thanksgiving" turkey, hung on her bed by Kathy during day shift, and Regina colored it that same night. Kathy also made her a certificate of merit saying how proud they were of Blair. She had an angel ornament from Stacy and some pictures that Stephanie took of her first bath. We also were able to keep her beautiful crib blanket from Project Linus.

I was so emotional. Of course I was so happy to take Blair home but nervous, scared, and sad to leave the ones who have become family during the last two months. Before leaving our room, we had to make a quick trip through the NICU one last time to say goodbye to everyone. I spent a ton of time with the nurses and respiratory therapists working with Blair, and I enjoyed everyone so much. Not to mention they all loved Blair to pieces and took such good care of her. Brad and I are forever grateful that God provided such wonderful people to take care of Blair while she was sick.

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Child of God, wife of a farmer, mom to a miracle, RN; picture taker, animal lover, Spanish speaker, world traveler, former high school teacher. I love food, knitting, blogging, and living in a small town. I write about a little of all of the above!

Brad is my husband of 6 years and the reason I live across the branch. From a very young age he knew he'd be a farmer. God gave him the love and the talent -- and he's the best looking and the best dressed farmer I know! He's funny, creative, and he's the most wonderful husband and father. He's the one that can make Blair light up like no other.

Blair is four! We are so blessed to have her. She was born very sick, but God gave her strength and brought her through it. She has hearing loss called Auditory Neuropathy and wears hearing aids. She also has chronic lung disease, but you wouldn't know by seeing her! She is the busiest, funniest little thing who keeps us laughing and on our toes. I thank God for her every day.

Leighton is the happy roly poly who joined our family this summer. He has been a joy and is as sweet as his big sister! He's such a blessing, and we're so thankful for him!